Chapter 12

The day after being called up to the military.

Perhaps due to fatigue, I woke up around noon again.

So, to carry out the holiday plans that were cut short the other day, I decided to go out after thoroughly cleaning and taking out the trash.

Incidentally, the basement of the apartment where I live has separate dustbins, allowing one to dispose of garbage regardless of the collection day.

The last lunch was at a fast food place, but this time I chose a set meal restaurant.

After finishing the meal, I decided to head to the dark market shopping street, which I had planned to visit during my last day off.

It's a rather ominous name, but it's a proper shopping street.

Apparently, about five generations ago, the head of the shopping association thought a normal name would be boring and wouldn't attract customers or vendors, so he made the name and appearance of the shopping street fit the theme. This turned out to be a hit, and the number of vendors and customers more than doubled.

Now, it has grown in scale and offers everything from food and clothing to electronics, junk parts, hobbies, old books, adult items, weapons and ammunition, medicines, air cars, combat boats, spaceships, and even military surplus.

The growth to this size is probably due to the presence of some dedicated fans.

People wearing hoods, carrying swords, or wearing bandages and eye patches can be seen walking around everywhere.

I was heading to a store located in one corner of this dark market shopping street.

It was a store fitting for the dark market, with ivy growing all over the walls.

The inside of the store was filled with the smell of wood, earth, and grass, and on the counter were lined up packets of what looked like tablets.

A woman in her late twenties to early thirties was sitting at the counter, holding an unlit cigarette and reading a newspaper.

She had yellow skin, a blue right eye, and a green left eye, wore glasses, and had deep red hair tied up around her neck, which reached her back.

When she confirmed it was me, she turned to me with a lackluster expression.

"Welcome. ...Oh, it's you."

After confirming my appearance, she immediately returned her gaze to the newspaper.

"You still seem to be pretty idle."

"The elderly come to pick up their medicine around noon."

This is Gonzales Patterson.

One of the few friends I made after becoming a second-year high school student, and of course, a guy.

So why is the person in front of me a woman who looks older?

During his university days, he was in an accident and, as a life-saving measure, his brain was preserved and installed in an android body.

At the time, there were no male androids available, so he was reluctantly placed in a female one.

Since then, his body has been fully restored through clone regeneration treatment, but due to the cost of the treatment and the cost of the body swap surgery, he apparently hasn't changed back.

Incidentally, this is a legitimate pharmacy that fits the concept of the shopping street, and he is a certified pharmacist.

He accepts prescriptions from nearby hospitals and those brought in by customers.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"I came to hear some 'rumors.' Also, I need to restock my throat lozenges. Three packets each of the tortoiseshell, mint, and cinnamon ones, and a bag of soda."

"You still like the old-fashioned ones, huh?"

Patterson gathered the candies I ordered into one bag.

After receiving the items, I handed over a significant amount of cash, far more than the cost of ten packets of candy.

"So, what about the 'rumors'?"

This 'rumor' is the main reason I came to this store.

The dark market shopping street is a legitimate shopping street, but due to its dark market atmosphere, truly suspicious people can easily blend in.

While he runs a legitimate pharmacy and also works as an information broker, there are likely some who are doing truly dangerous things.

I definitely don't want to get involved with them.

Anyway, let's get to the 'rumors.'

"Hmm... Have you heard about the 'gate toll' issue?"

"The campaign to lower the gate toll in the Dalica sector?"

It's a demonstration that has been happening in the Dalica sector, which has many immigrant planets.

A gate is a wormhole-type long-distance travel method that uses spatial wormholes called 'quantum singularities' in space, allowing instant travel to distant locations, which is crucial for logistics.

In the past, before I was born, the toll was extremely high for anyone except nobles.

However, with the late emperor's declaration of 'hindering economic development!', it became available at a fair price for everyone.

However, when the current emperor ascended the throne, people started demanding even lower tolls.

"Right, that one. I heard the demands are getting more and more extreme."

"Wouldn't that just become regular news?"

"Apparently, they demanded that the emperor prostrate himself and apologize, and that the entire process be broadcast live across the galaxy."

"What kind of ridiculous demand is that?"

Frankly, it's just stupid.

It sounds like the demands of a particularly nasty customer.

"There's a rumor that some nobles who dislike the current 'beautiful and excellent' emperor are behind this."

"But if that's the case, it would still become regular news, right?"

"To prevent more supporters from joining and because some nobles were enraged and secretly gathering forces."

"To avoid being detected while gathering forces... I see."

The current 38th Emperor, Her Majesty Armilia Flannodol Ouvors, is known as a wise ruler who is working to eliminate the gap between the imperial territories and the colonies.

As a result, she is popular among the people in both the empire and the colonies, and especially among young nobles.

However, there are some old nobles who look down on the young her and ignore her orders, try to make her their lover to gain power, or even want to replace her and become the emperor themselves.

This demonstration is rumored to be a plot by such people.

In other words, it's a scheme by the anti-emperor faction, and the pro-emperor faction is covering it up to suppress it.

Getting involved would definitely be troublesome.

I should stay away from it.

"That's about the kind of 'rumor' you'd be interested in."

Patterson said this while taking off his glasses and starting to clean the lenses.

He apparently can't settle without wearing glasses, as he used to wear them when he was human, just like me.

I could have my vision corrected or get cybernetic eyes, but I find it too much trouble, so I stick with glasses.

Even if I made a reservation, I might be cut in line by a noble.

"Got it. Let me know if you hear anything else."

"Sure. I'll contact you when I do."

His smile, despite the completely different appearance, somehow felt the same as it did during our student days.

"By the way, are you planning to get your body back? You must have saved up enough money, right?"

So I asked about something that was bothering me.

While I, as a mercenary, don't get a huge sum all at once, a pharmacist and information broker should be quite profitable.

He must be able to afford the treatment and body swap surgery fees, considering he can continue paying for the storage of his original body.

"I can actually keep this body cleaner."

"Well, you can sterilize your whole body, right?"

Androids and full-body prosthetics can be fully sterilized.

That's why most doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and receptionists in hospitals are androids or full-body prosthetics.

This way, they won't be infected by viruses and won't carry them outside the hospital.

Then, Patterson said something unbelievable while hiding his face behind the newspaper.

"So I bought a dedicated sterilization capsule."

I was speechless for a moment.

"Huh? I thought even the smallest one costs around 8 million credits... and the maintenance and cleaning fluid costs are pretty high, right?"

While it might be needed in a hospital, it's not something a personal pharmacy would buy.

"I need to use it before mixing medicines..."

"A bath would be enough! No wonder you're running out of money!"

He must really like his current body and is deliberately wasting money to create an excuse to delay the change.

I can understand that.

He had a complex about his appearance during our student days, so he must be happy with his current look.

But if that's the case, he should change his name quickly.

It's really hard to call him Gonzales with that beautiful appearance!

This is the first friend (main character) of the protagonist!

Please imagine the sterilization capsule to be something like the medical capsule in Dragon Ball.

Due to various real-life commitments, health conditions, my slow writing pace, and the production of other works, updates might be delayed.

I would appreciate your understanding in this regard.

I intentionally use the character '儀' (ceremonial) instead of '義' (artificial) for prosthetics, except for artificial eyes.

I would appreciate any feedback, comments, or reports of typos.